Reading 1
Gn 46:1-7, 28-30
Israel set out with all that was his.
When he arrived at Beer-sheba,
he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called,
“Jacob! Jacob!”
He answered, “Here I am.”
Then he said: “I am God, the God of your father.
Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,
for there I will make you a great nation.
Not only will I go down to Egypt with you;
I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.”
So Jacob departed from Beer-sheba,
and the sons of Israel
put their father and their wives and children
on the wagons that Pharaoh had sent for his transport.
They took with them their livestock
and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan.
Thus Jacob and all his descendants migrated to Egypt.
His sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters—
all his descendants—he took with him to Egypt.
Israel had sent Judah ahead to Joseph,
so that he might meet him in Goshen.
On his arrival in the region of Goshen,
Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot
and rode to meet his father Israel in Goshen.
As soon as Joseph saw him, he flung himself on his neck
and wept a long time in his arms.
And Israel said to Joseph, “At last I can die,
now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive.”
37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40
Responsorial PsalmR. (39a)
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;
their inheritance lasts forever.
They are not put to shame in an evil time;
in days of famine they have plenty.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the LORD loves what is right,
and forsakes not his faithful ones.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Gospel
Mt 10:16-23
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But beware of men,
for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.”
Meditation: Matthew 10:16-23
“Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say.” (Matthew 10:19)
The moment is perfect. You’ve had a nice conversation with someone and you think you might have an opening to share Jesus with them. You feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit. But something unexpected happens—you freeze up! Unsure of what to say, and worried that saying the wrong thing is worse than saying nothing, you let the perfect moment slip by.
Has this ever happened to you? If so, don’t worry; it’s happened to even the best evangelists. And God understands. Maybe the experience can help you appreciate the advice Jesus gave to his disciples: Do not worry about what you are to say. He wasn’t telling them to say whatever popped into their heads or that they didn’t need any preparation beforehand. He just told them not to worry about it. They could trust in the Holy Spirit and his ability to give them the right words and capture that perfect moment.
How can we stop worrying? By trusting that the Spirit will help us evangelize just as he helped the apostles. By remembering that we don’t need a degree in theology or years of deep prayer to evangelize effectively. What we really need is the Holy Spirit—and we all have him!
Of course, it helps if we do some preparation, like reading and studying about our faith. It’s a good idea to review our own faith journey to figure out how we can best share it with people. But the point of preparation is to dispel our fears, not to heighten them. It’s to make us comfortable and confident so that, when the right moment presents itself, we are calm enough to ask the Spirit to bless the words we share. We won’t be devoting all of our mental energy to coming up with the right words. Instead, we’ll have the words ready, and be more prayerful and open to the Spirit’s promptings.
So look for opportunities today to share with someone how Jesus has touched your life. Pray that your words resonate with that person. Expect the impossible. If nothing else, it will be one of the most exciting moments of the day!
“Holy Spirit, free me from anxiety. Give me confidence in your grace as I share the good news.”
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